Aeronauts are a Danger to Gardens
by Whymsical
Summary: Arthur was simply minding his own business when the contraption came from the sky. The person he meets from inside it is a very interesting character, and from their meeting a friendship is born. Also known as Alfred crashing into Arthur's garden with a hot air balloon and nearly killing him before they become friends. There is very small side PruCan.


**A/N** : Hey there, guys! So this is a story I wrote for my good friend's birthday but I think it's really cute and I hope you guys like it.

* * *

"Dude, watch out!"

Arthur looked up from his gardening, then promptly hurled himself forwards. The hot air balloon basket passed harmlessly through the space where his head had been before the entire contraption crashed right into Arthur's garden. The man inside had ducked down for impact, and the colorful envelope fluttered down with grace to cover the rose bushes.

"What the-"

"Sorry about that!"

The man popped up again, a smile on his face. The smile was the only thing Arthur could see, for the stranger was wearing an old-style aviator helmet and goggles. He seemed young, in any case. Then he was removing the helmet. Blond hair was ruffled up, and when he looked up again, his eyes were blue.

Arthur tried again. "What the bloody hell are you doing?"

"Uh, I just landed."

" _In my garden_!"

The pilot chuckled. "Yeah, sorry about that. You can't really control where these things go, y'know?"

"No, I don't," Arthur replied flatly. "You've ruined my flowers. Who the hell are you anyway?"

"Oh! The name's Alfred F. Jones, certified hot air balloon pilot! And about the roses..." Alfred hopped out of the basket and sauntered over to the envelope. He lifted part of it up, then let it flop down again when he was done peering. "They'll be fine! They're not that broken, just covered up a bit! All they need is a little TLC and they'll be good as new, huh? And you seem like the kind of guy-"

"Stop talking. Please." Arthur massaged his head. "You almost killed me."

"Again, I can't really control where it goes. That's kind of up to the wind... But I did warn you in time!"

"Barely."

Arthur sat down on a little bench, needing time to think things over. A hot air balloon had landed in the middle of his garden, ruined the garden, and very nearly killed him. And the pilot was overenthusiastic and annoying to boot. He looked up. Alfred was standing by the basket. He was looking into it and checking everything over, but as Arthur watched he turned to him and smiled hesitantly. Arthur didn't smile back.

"Are you going to be here long?"

"I shouldn't be. Mattie – that's my brother – is chasing me and he'll be here with the truck soon so we can pack it up."

"All right." That didn't sound too bad. After a moment, Arthur stood again, his hospitality kicking in. There was no need to be rude if the man was leaving soon. "Can I get you anything? Some water, maybe?"

"Nah." Alfred suddenly stiffened. "But I have something for you!"

"For- For me?" Then Arthur was just confused.

"Yup!" Rummaging around a bit in the basket, Alfred soon found what he was looking for. Triumphant, he held up a bottle of champagne. "For your inconvenience!" he said, thrusting the bottle at Arthur.

Arthur blinked. "You just happened to have a bottle of-" He checked the label. "Actually, fairly decent champagne in your basket?"

"Nope." Alfred grinned, and at Arthur's baffled expression he let out a laugh. "We have one on every flight..." He trailed off, realizing that he didn't know Arthur's name and tried to gesture to him to say it.

Arthur realized what he meant after a few seconds. "Arthur Kirkland."

"Nice to meet you! Anyway, Arthur, as I was saying, we carry one around with us on every flight. It's kind of a tradition. If we land in someone's yard, like I did, then we're supposed to give it to that person to kind of make up for the bother."

"I see..." Arthur was intrigued by the notion, and when Alfred stopped speaking he accepted the bottle. "Well ah, thank you."

"No problem. You know," Alfred smiled as he got comfortable, leaning against the basket. "They used to offer only a cupful. Back in the day, I mean. In France they would-" He paused again, then laughed sheepishly. "Sorry, you probably don't wanna hear this."

Arthur considered it. "No, I don't mind." Gardening was out of the question for now anyway. "If we're to wait, then we might as well talk while we do so."

"Okay. You can open that, by the way, have a drink."

"In that case, hold on." Arthur left him for a moment, going inside his small house to retrieve a pair of champagne glasses. When he returned, Alfred was seated on the steps to the porch. "Here, a glass for you as well."

"Are you sure?" Alfred looked up, then took the bottle from him and opened it.

"Yes." Sitting down, Arthur passed him the glasses to fill up. Receiving the full one, he leaned back and took a sip. "It's good. Now what was that about tradition?"

Alfred couldn't help a grin from spreading on his face as he watched. So this Arthur guy could be nice and friendly when he wasn't startled. "Right! So back when ballooning was first invented, they used smoke to rise because people thought that the smoke caused the balloon to rise instead of the heat. And when they landed on peasants' land, the peasants thought, naturally, that they were fire-breathing monsters." As he spoke, Alfred's face was animated and excited. He was waving his arms around, too, which on more than one occasion almost caused him to spill his drink. "When they discovered that it was a bunch of flying dudes, though, they were pissed that their farming got interrupted. But the aeronauts had champagne with them, and they offered a glass to the peasants, which pacified them." He chuckled. "So you're lucky that you get a whole bottle!"

Arthur was listening to him attentively, and by the time Alfred had finished, the Brit's eyebrow was raised. He was impressed. "That's certainly some tradition," he commented. At the end of the story, he laughed a little bit as well. "Yes, well a bottle is just a bit more appreciated than a glass. Especially since you've gone and wrecked my garden."

"I know, I know." At least Alfred looked sheepish. "Look when Mattie gets here we'll give you some money to replace any plants, too. I know how uptight you gardening enthusiasts can get, and I don't need you coming after me in the middle of the night with a sharpened shovel."

Arthur couldn't help it; he laughed. Alfred was just so charismatic. "Oh come now, it's not that bad."

"You're telling me that?" Alfred's eyes went comically wide. "And after you yelled at me before!" He laughed again, tipping his head back to the sun.

"Oh hush..." Arthur ducked his own to hide the light flush adorning his cheeks. "I meant that it's not bad enough to warrant a gruesome death by shovel."

Before they could talk anymore, there was the sound of a car pulling up into Arthur's driveway. Alfred poured the rest of the champagne into his mouth and set the glass down onto the deck. He stood, trying to get a glimpse of the car.

"That's probably Mattie..."

"Ah." Arthur soon joined him. "Is there anything I can do to help you two? It seems like it would take an awful lot of effort to fold up your balloon."

"That would be awesome! I'm just gonna go let Mattie in, okay?" Alfred dashed off to the gate, and once he was past it Arthur heard a happy whoop.

While he waited for Alfred to return with his brother, Arthur strode over to the balloon and examined it. He figured that Alfred wouldn't appreciate him touching any part of it without permission, so he studied the pattern of the envelope instead. It seemed to be made of a lot of red, white, and blue material. Arthur was instantly reminded of the American flag. There were long red and white stripes down the envelope, but he didn't see any stars anywhere. Maybe they were on the other side of it.

"Artie!"

Arthur started at the shout, then whirled around to meet two Alfreds. Or rather, one Alfred and his twin brother. There were subtle differences in their faces and builds, but from a distance Arthur knew that they would be indistinguishable from each other. He paused at the nickname as well, but Alfred was grinning and waving his brother forward so he didn't say anything about it.

"Arthur, meet Mattie!"

Matthew thrust a hand forwards. "Hello, Arthur. It's nice to meet you, and I'm sorry for the inconvenience."

"It's all right." Arthur waved his apology away. "Alfred proved to be an interesting character. And I must say, the champagne was a nice touch."

"It's tradition," Matthew said with a smile. "Now, let's get her folded up. I don't want to be in your hair for any longer than we have to."

Arthur nodded. "That sounds like a plan, though I honestly must say it's not as big of an intrusion as I had first assumed it to be." He rolled up the sleeves to his shirt and placed his hands on his hips, waiting for instructions.

"Well that's a first." Matthew shot Alfred a look, which his twin returned with indignance. "Usually people are pushing Alfred towards their gates and threatening to call the police."

"Admittedly I wanted to at first," Arthur said, sending an amused glance to them at their antics. "But I'm glad I didn't act on that."

While they were chatting, Alfred started interspersing the conversation with commands of how to fold up the balloon. It took them a good hour or so to get everything into place and folded away neatly, but the twins assured Arthur that it had taken less time with three than had it only been the two of them. All three of them were sweaty by the time they were finished and the balloon was loaded up into the back of their truck, so Arthur invited Alfred and Matthew inside for a cool glass of iced tea.

"Do you two live far away?" he asked as he got down the glasses.

Alfred and Matthew took their seats at the table. "About half an hour by car," Alfred answered. He got comfortable, leaning against the back of the chair and closing his eyes.

"This is actually one of the shortest chases I've had to do," Matthew chimed in. "The winds were calm and gentle today, so Alfred drifted slowly. It was nice that I didn't have to be in so big of a rush. Sometimes it's really bad, and since I have to stick to the roads I'll admit I've broken many speed limits to catch up."

The two glasses clinked down onto the table, filled three-quarters of the way with the iced tea. "What's the farthest chase you've had to do?"

"Maybe three hours away?" Matthew looked to Alfred. "Was that right? Alfred hit a particularly strong wind about two miles up and it carried him really far. I think he was almost out of the state by the time he realized that the smart thing to do would be to come down."

Opening his eyes, Alfred shot Matthew a winning smile. "That was a great flight. But yeah, getting back from it was a pain." He spotted the iced tea and lit up even more, grabbing at the glass and downing half of it in one swallow.

Arthur blinked, looking between Alfred and the glass. After a moment, he set the whole jug down onto the table. "I assume he was rambunctious as a child?"

"You should have seen him." Matthew rolled his eyes. "Or rather, you couldn't have under all the mud he had on him all the time. I think our mother celebrated whenever she saw him clean for more than an hour."

"That doesn't surprise me at all." Arthur took a seat across from them, hiding his chuckles behind a hand. "How old are you two?"

"Twenty-four," Alfred replied easily. "What about you?"

"Twenty-eight. I, ah, hope you don't mind all of these questions." Suddenly self-conscious, Arthur drew back a bit and tightened his grip on the glass. Was he prodding too much? He'd only just met them, after all.

Alfred reached out and gave his hand a squeeze. There was a warm smile on his face. "We don't, so don't worry. It's always cool to meet new people! That's part of the awesomeness of hot air ballooning. When you land, you can meet the greatest of people."

"Or the nastiest," Matthew cut in. "Though that happens rarer than you'd expect."

Relaxing again, Arthur nodded.

"Hey!" Alfred suddenly sat straight up. "Since we're already asking questions, let's play that game where we ask you a question and you have to answer, then you ask either of us a question and we answer! I don't think that's 20 Questions, but something like that!"

"Isn't that normally for dates?" One of Arthur's eyebrows shot up.

"It can be for making friends too!" Alfred was animated again. Excitement gleamed in his eyes, and he was even bouncing around in his seat. Arthur didn't stand a chance.

"All right, all right. Now stop that before you break the chair." The Brit chuckled and refilled their glasses. "I'll ask, then?" He waited for the brothers' nods. "Are you both pilots?"

It was Alfred that answered. "Nope! Just me, though Mattie helped me to study for my tests and stuff so he knows everything that I do. He just didn't feel like doing the extra bit to actually get the license."

"It's not like it was only a tiny extra bit, though," Matthew explained, continuing the answer. "Alfred needed tens of hours of experience in a balloon before he could get both of his licenses. And besides, I'm not too fond of the heights they get to. Smaller buildings I can still handle, but I tend to clock out at about five hundred feet or so."

"And five hundred feet is a pretty shitty flight." Alfred examined Arthur from behind his glasses (the goggles had been switched out for elegant wire lenses), trying to think up a good question.

Arthur noticed the stare after a minute. "What?"

"Nothing. What do you do for a living?" Alfred was surprised to see Arthur flush at the inquiry. "What?"

"No, nothing." Arthur kept his gaze firmly on the table and circled his fingertip around the edge of the glass a few times before answering. "I'm a teacher at the nearby elementary school during the school year. Second grade."

"Really? That's cool!" _Nothing to be all flustery about_ , Alfred thought.

"And. I also...write...books on gardening," Arthur finished, coughing a little. "And I blog about it too." It gave him a steadier flow of income and allowed him to have such an extravagant garden in the first place. The better he made it, the more people bought his books and looked on his blog so the more he was able to expand it. The whole situation was an upwards spiral that Arthur was secretly very proud of and worked hard to keep in motion.

Alfred couldn't help his burst of laughter. Arthur's head shot up, cheeks flushing a deep red, and the aeronaut quickly waved his hands at him. "No, no! I'm not making fun of you I swear! It's just- It's really cute."

That, if anything, made Arthur grow redder. "It is not- Cute!"

"I think it is. I mean, that's gotta mean that you're really passionate about what you do, right? And it's really cool about the books. Did you publish any of them?"

"...Aren't you only allowed one question? That was more." Arthur was desperate to get away from the topic now. Just because he was growing comfortable with the twins didn't mean that he was ready to go in depth with every part of his life, and his brothers' taunts over his professions certainly didn't help their case.

Alfred didn't notice his hesitancy. "Oh c'mon, asking follow-up questions is part of the game!"

"I don't think so, Alfred," Matthew said softly, a warning in his voice.

This Alfred picked up on. He took a closer look at Arthur, seeing the tension in his shoulders, and relented. "Maybe you're right." Now he was curious to find out about what happened to Arthur to make him so discomfited about what he did. Making a book and getting it published was awesome! It didn't matter what subject it was on. "Hit us, Artie. With a question, though. Not a real hit." He cracked a smile, hoping it would spread to Arthur's face.

There was that nickname again. Arthur's brow furrowed at it, and he blurted out his question before he could really think about it. "Why do you keep calling me Artie? I told you my name was Arthur."

Alfred looked taken aback. "Well... It's a nickname, right? I wasn't really thinking about it to call you that, it just slipped out." He took another long drink of the iced tea, then filled up the glass again. Arthur opened his mouth to speak, but he cut the other man off quickly. "But if you don't like it, I don't have to call you by it."

"No..." Arthur paused. "It's all right. I wasn't expecting it is all."

"Oh, okay! Sweet!" Alfred nodded to himself. "So it's my turn to ask a question, right?"

"Not necessarily," Matthew cut in. "I have a question this time."

Grinning, Alfred gave Matthew's shoulder a nudge. "Okay then, you can ask Arthur a question now."

That started a volley of questions between the two of them. While it went on, Alfred looked around the kitchen a little bit. It was more of a traditional kitchen. Old-looking cabinets and table, no granite countertops. It looked like the counters were butcher block though, so at least Arthur wasn't completely old-fashioned. There was a lot of yellow. The cabinets were yellow, trimmed with white, and they matched the walls. Three windows opened the kitchen up and let in a ton of sunlight, further adding to the sunny atmosphere there. White curtains adorned the windows, stitched with patterns of strawberries.

It wasn't a big kitchen by all means, but it clearly served its purpose and Alfred could honestly see himself settling into it. It was very homey and bright. The American felt invited there, felt right. There was an attraction there, both to the kitchen and its owner. When he first looked at it, Alfred knew that he never would have thought that if he saw a picture of it in a magazine. But being there, in that moment, it worked. Arthur had good style.

He could tell Matthew was comfortable there too. He was smiling brightly at something Arthur had just said, and there was no tension in his body. He was so open... It was rare that Matthew felt so much at home when not at their place, but the warm kitchen had similarly cast a spell over him. Alfred felt a set of eyes on him and peered across the table to meet green. Arthur was giving him a curious look.

"Are you all right, Alfred? You spaced out there for quite some time..."

"I'm fine, Artie." Alfred smiled again. "I like your kitchen."

Arthur burst out laughing. There was a broad smile on his own face and his laughter was happy. "I'm glad you do, Alfred," he got out. Before long his hand came up again to cover his mouth, though his eyes still sparkled with mirth.

Alfred felt his heart leap. "S-So what were you guys waiting for?"

A nudge came to his side. Matthew was looking over at him, a knowing look in his eye. "We just realized that you hadn't asked anything in a while. So go on, ask Arthur another question."

"Oh, right!" Once Arthur had gotten hold of his chuckles and Alfred was back in control of his heart, he started to think up of other questions. His mind kept going back to the books Arthur had written. "So, you never did tell me. Did you publish any of your books?"

Arthur nodded after a moment. "Two so far. One detailing different garden designs and what flowers go well with each soil, weather, and other flowers. The other one was about the care of roses."

"That's totally cool, man! Did they do well?" Alfred leaned forward eagerly.

"Yes, both are doing quite well." Arthur was taken aback a bit by Alfred's enthusiasm, but he didn't show it.

"I'm happy for you! Are you gonna do another one?"

"Perhaps. I don't have any ideas so far." Inwardly, Arthur was beaming that someone was interested in his work. Granted, he might not see that person again-

Arthur's reality came crashing down on him. Alfred and Matthew were temporary in his life. Blown into it by the chances of the winds. When they left, there was no guarantee that they would be back. He swallowed heavily and stood up, starting to pace. The sun was already starting its downward descent.

"Are you okay, Arthur?" Then Alfred was standing as well. There was concern on his face, and he took a step towards Arthur's figure.

"I- I'm fine." Arthur smiled. Time to change the subject. He leaned back against the countertop and tried to relax. "Beforehand Matthew mentioned that you had multiple balloon licenses?"

Alfred didn't look convinced, but he backed down. Settling against the countertop next to Arthur, he crossed his arms and started talking. "Yeah. There are three levels, kind of, of balloon piloting. There's the student pilot – but you don't get a license really for that – then the private pilot and commercial pilot. I've gotten both licenses, so I can either fly by myself wherever I want or I can even fly people around for money. It's pretty sweet."

"Have you been doing that? The, ah, 'flying people around for money' part."

"Not lately. Right now I do more flights for myself. I'm pushing my height, too. The record is like twelve miles above the ground, did you know? I wanna get close to that, if not beat it one day."

"That's a good dream to have," Arthur told him. He reached out and gave Alfred's shoulder a squeeze.

"You think?" Alfred grinned back at him, then cursed when he saw the clock over Arthur's shoulder. Was it really that late? "God, have we really been sitting here talking for more than two hours?"

Matthew, too, looked surprised when he noticed the time. "Alfred, we should get going..."

The house became a flurry of activity then. Glasses were cleaned up, the balloon checked over to make sure it was tethered properly to the back of the truck, and before Arthur was really conscious of it happening, Alfred and Matthew were driving off. Arthur watched them go, standing on the small porch, and let out a sigh. That was that. They left him forty dollars to cover any damage to his roses, but Arthur felt nervous taking the money. It wasn't Alfred's fault he had landed like he had.

He cleaned up the kitchen and started on the garden. Only a few branches of the rose bushes were damaged, and they would certainly grow back next year if Arthur trimmed them properly and looked after them. Certainly not enough damage to warrant the money.

It was five minutes later that he sat up, stock still, stomach pooling with dread.

Alfred hadn't left any contact information.

Arthur wouldn't see either him or his brother again.

* * *

Alfred was talking animatedly almost the entire ride home. He described the flight and the wind conditions, their usual topics, but he also talked a great deal about Arthur. Matthew put up with it, but he knew that his brother was hooked. He liked Arthur as well. The British man was shy and reserved, but once he was relaxed it was really fun to talk to him. He only hoped Alfred wouldn't prattle on about the shade of his eyes for very long. Soon, though, he realized he would have worse problems to deal with.

"MATTIE!" Alfred screeched when they were ten minutes from home.

Matthew cursed softly and hit the brakes, stopping in the middle of the deserted road. Worry clouded his face. "What is it, Alfred?"

When his twin looked at him, there was dread in Alfred's face. "He didn't give me his number. I'm never gonna see him again! Mattie!"

"Oh for-" Matthew eyed the steering wheel, but decided it wouldn't be a good idea to bang his head against it. "Stop whining. You know the area he lives in, right?"

"Yeah..." Alfred was still pouting.

"And stop giving me those eyes. You're not a dog." Matthew put up a hand between the two of them, blocking off his view of the pathetic kicked puppy eyes Alfred was giving him. "Look, the solution is simple. We'll just drive over there tomorrow. That is," He lowered the hand again to give Alfred a look. "If he still wants to be friends with you." The look of horror spreading on Alfred's face was worth it, he decided.

"H-He might not wanna be friends?" Then the eyes were back. "I thought he liked me..." Alfred's lower lip started jutting out, and the blue irises shone.

Matthew kept it up for about ten more seconds before breaking. "Oh stop that, you big baby. I was kidding. Of course he wants to be friends with you. Probably more," he muttered under his breath.

"What was that last bit?"

"Nothing. Just trust me. If he didn't want to be friends with you, then why did he look so disappointed that we had to leave?"

"He looked disappointed?"

"Alfred you're blind, you know that?" Matthew shook his head. "Yes, he did." He started driving again, though more slowly this time. "So we'll go back there tomorrow and it'll be fine."

"No!"

"No?" Looking over, the quieter man groaned when he saw Alfred's face light up with an idea.

"No." Alfred grinned maniacally at him. "I'm gonna drop in on him in my balloon again."

"Please don't..."

"Why not? It's an awesome idea! That can be our thing!" Alfred leaned back against the seat again, eyes closing as his imagination took off. Him descending through the clouds, Arthur waiting on the porch for him with ready iced tea... He'd land perfectly and leap from the basket, and Arthur would rush into his arms. They'd hug tightly for a few minutes, and then Alfred would slip his fingers under Arthur's chin, lift his face, and their lips would connect in a sweet, sweet kiss...

"Earth to Alfred." Matthew sighed at his antics. "Alfred, you do realize that the chances of you landing perfectly in his yard again are kind of slim. And it might be weeks before the wind is blowing in that direction again. By then Arthur might think that _you_ don't want to be friends with _him_."

"But of course I would!" A frown took over Alfred's face. "Why wouldn't I?"

Matthew replied when they were stopped at a red light. "Alfred, you have to think of it from his perspective. A random man dropped into his garden from the sky, talked with him for a few hours, then took off and wasn't seen for days. I'm telling you, we'll drive over tomorrow-"

"No, Mattie. I wanna do it my way. It'll be more special like that, you know?"

"Alfred-"

"Look, if you're that worried then when we get home I'll look up the wind directions for the next few days. If there's one soon that's going towards his house, then I'll go by balloon. If there isn't, then tomorrow we can drive over." Alfred crossed his arms. "Okay?"

After taking a moment to think about the idea, Matthew conceded. "Okay. But it has to be within the next three days."

"Deal!"

They were home five minutes later. Alfred wanted to rush into the small house immediately, but knew that he had to help unload the balloon. She was his baby, and if anything happened to her, he wouldn't be able to get to Arthur's house like he wanted to. He and Matthew got the balloon safely into the garage, and with a knowing roll of his eyes his brother let him go off to the computer while he finished up.

"AHA!"

Matthew heard that when he entered the house. He braced himself, and sure enough a moment later Alfred was careening into him. He hugged back accordingly, then pushed his brother off. "Aha what?"

"There's gonna be like identical conditions to today the day after tomorrow!" The smile on Alfred's face almost split his cheeks. "I can go ahead with my awesome plan!"

Rolling his eyes, Matthew continued onwards into the house. Alfred was following him eagerly, his entire body vibrating with the eagerness shooting through his veins. "That's really good, Alfred. Now the other part of the issue is whether or not you'll be able to recognize Arthur's house from the air."

"Dude, have you seen his garden? I'm pretty sure you can see it from space." A couch was in his path, and Alfred sank down into the convenient piece of furniture. "That suits him, though..." he whispered dreamily.

Matthew just shook his head. Honestly, he was so far gone. Next Alfred would be serenading Arthur's eyebrows, or something equally inconsequential. "What suits him?" He asked the question anyway. It would be better to get all of the feelings out now than to have Alfred sneaking into his room in the middle of the night, mumbling fervently about the shape of Arthur's legs.

"Small house, big garden."

"Ah." Matthew let him chatter on.

By the time Alfred was finished, it was past dinner. The two of them ended up ordering some pizza, and for most of the time while they ate, Alfred was plotting out his course. He didn't remember the exact coordinates of where he had landed, having been too busy trying to avoid killing the lovely Brit out gardening, but he was confident that once he reached the area he would be able to recognize Arthur's backyard and land around it, if not in it. The good part about Arthur living out of the town was that there were empty fields around his house, and his nearest neighbor lived at least a mile away in all directions. Matthew helped him out, making sure that the course made sense and checking the weather every few minutes to see if there were any threatening updates.

Alfred went to sleep buzzing with excitement.

* * *

"Arthur! Yo, Artie! Look out, here I coooome!"

Arthur's head shot up, and he stared for a moment at the hot air balloon rapidly descending into the center of his backyard. It was growing closer and closer...and Arthur realized he was once again directly in its path. He scampered off to the side, eyes still wide with disbelief, and watched as Alfred landed his balloon with decidedly more grace than the previous time.

The basket touched down with only the barest of bumps, and the envelope fluttered onto the ground on the opposite side of where Arthur's flowers were. Alfred didn't bother checking anything over, he just leapt out and ran to Arthur's side. His arms were outstretched, but when he gathered Arthur up into a hug, the smaller man was stiff in his grip.

"A-Arthur?" Stepping back, he furrowed his brow as he gazed down at him. Arthur was still staring up, and his eyes flicked from Alfred's body to the balloon and back. "Arthur, what's wrong?"

"You're here?" Arthur moved away from him, examining his body closely as if to make sure that it was really him.

"Yeah, I'm here." Alfred grinned sheepishly.

Arthur took a deep breath. "...It's been a week. More than that, actually." He wrapped his arms loosely around his middle to fortify himself, then looked up at Alfred again. "Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why are you back now?

"Can we sit down to talk?" Alfred started moving over to the stairs of the porch, but Arthur's voice stopped him.

"No. What's there to talk about?" Arms crossed more tightly over his chest, Arthur quickly moved to block off his path. "Just answer my question, Alfred. Because, you know, by now I was sure you didn't want anything else to do with me."

"Okay, okay." Alfred heaved a great sigh. "First off that's definitely not true. I really wanna be your friend, Artie. But I wanted to come back to see you in my hot air balloon! You know, to make things more exciting and a bit more special." He scratched the back of his head, tugging at the short blond hairs there. "I was supposed to come last Tuesday but there was that storm, which, by the way, came out of like _nowhere_ -"

"And you couldn't drive here because?"

"Because that would be boring!" The sight of Arthur's face quickly had him rethinking the brilliance of his idea. "Arthur, I know it was kind of stupid. Maybe more than 'kind of'. And I'm really sorry that I didn't leave you my phone number or email or anything last time. I was just really caught up in the moment, you know?"

With a sigh of his own, Arthur eventually nodded. He had felt the same way. "I do know. And it was incredibly stupid to just wait like that. But... I'm glad you're here now."

Alfred's face lit up again. "I'm glad too! And..." He quickly sent off a text message to Matthew. "Now we've got a few hours to catch up and talk and stuff! I told Mattie to go back home for now." The phone right there in his hand, he then thrust it forward. "Oh, and why don't you put your number in right away?"

While Arthur was making his contact, Alfred studied his face. Not much had changed, with the exception of a few more freckles dotting the bridge of Arthur's nose. The Brit must have been out in the sun often. Alfred's mouth dried up; Arthur was really gorgeous. He had an almost delicate facial structure, but one that boasted an inner strength. The pink lips were full and nicely shaped, and Alfred bet that they would be soft. Arthur had a straight nose, and on either side of it were those stunning green eyes. Alfred thought that he could spend an entire day staring into them and he still wouldn't have picked out each and every shade of green in them. Above those were those eyebrows. Thick, expressive, and proud, they suited Arthur very well.

"Here you go."

Alfred jolted back into the present when he was passed back the phone. He smiled, then moved around the Brit to sit on the steps. He was glad that Arthur wasn't too angry, and that he was getting a second chance. Soon Arthur had joined him, and they sat watching the garden.

"It looks like all your rose bushes are back to normal!" Alfred told him, smiling happily at the sight of the vibrant flowers.

"Yes, they are." Arthur looked over at the flowers with a soft expression on his face. "It didn't take nearly as much work as I feared it would."

"Well I'm glad!" Alfred just managed to catch glimpse of that expression. He was suddenly gripped with the desire for Arthur to look at him like that.

After a moment, the look faded and Arthur turned his attention to Alfred again. There was a smirk on his face. "So, Alfred, do you have another bottle of champagne for me?"

Alfred lit up. "I do, actually! Here, lemme go get-" He had already jumped up when a soft hand on his wrist stopped him.

"Alfred, it's all right. I was joking. I haven't even finished the first bottle yet. You don't have to bring me any champagne." Arthur couldn't stop himself from laughing. Alfred's enthusiasm was simply so endearing... He really did love what he did, which Arthur understood perfectly and appreciated.

"But I already brought it!" Alfred shot him a pout as he freed his hand. "Plus it's a different one. And I want you to have it, Arthur." He was already trotting over to the basket and leaning over the edge of it to find the bottle. A few moments of rooting around produced it, and he lifted the pink bottle up in triumph. When he turned back to Arthur, he noticed the Brit hurriedly raising his eyes and looking away with a slight blush. Interesting... "It's a pink champagne this time!"

Arthur coughed to return some of his dignity and nodded, rising himself to take the bottle from him. "Well thank you. But really, Alfred. If you ever happen to drop in by hot air balloon again, you don't have to bring me any more champagne. It's really no trouble."

"What if I want to?"

"Ah-" Arthur blinked, taken aback by the challenge. "Well... I mean, if you're really insistent then I can't stop you... But Alfred, you don't have to spend money on this. It's not a bother at all."

Alfred gave a soft huff. "Fine, fine... But at least enjoy these two bottles!"

"I definitely will." Arthur started off towards his back door. "What do you say we have some more of the first bottle now?"

A slow smile spread widely over Alfred's face. "I think," he said as he started following the Brit. "That that's an awesome idea."

They ended up drinking the remainder of the first bottle together, and then even managed to start on the second one at Alfred's insistence. Arthur was incredibly hospitable, and they migrated to the living room as the afternoon progressed so Alfred was happy to be able to see more of Arthur's house. Neither of them noticed the time passing by, so absorbed were they by their conversation.

Arthur's house was definitely smaller than the one Alfred and Matthew's parents had left them. It was a two bedroom house with a small kitchen, a single bathroom and a combined living room and dining room. Every room was on the smaller side, but Arthur didn't mind. He had gotten the place for an incredibly low price because of the size of the house, and since he was living alone there was no one to complain to him about the lack of space. It was enough for him and his garden, and that was what mattered.

While small, all of the rooms were nicely decorated. The old-fashioned taste was everywhere, from the clawfoot tub to the winged armchairs and the positively medieval carved dining table. Interspersed with those were more modern elements, like a high-tech computer, a modern sofa, sleek steel candlesticks, and newer light fixtures. It was the oddest blend of old and new, but it was completely Arthur and it worked. The Brit took him on a tour of all the rooms except his bedroom, which Alfred found understandable despite his disappointment.

Matthew's arrival at seven snapped them out of the almost daydream-like state they had gotten into. They both blinked at the sound of the doorbell, and Alfred's eyes widened when he saw the clock. Had he really been there with Arthur for over five hours? It felt like no time at all... He mused over this while Arthur stood to let Matthew in.

The sun was still high in the sky, so the three of them quickly set about folding up the hot air balloon. It took them less time to finish, and Arthur invited Matthew in for a taste of champagne too when they were done. The other twin agreed, and over the glass he and Arthur exchanged phone numbers and addresses. Arthur was invited to their place whenever he wished to come by, and the two of them could drive over pretty much at any time as well.

"I hope that the only times you come to visit aren't in that balloon of yours," Arthur told Alfred when he and his brother were getting ready to leave.

Alfred grinned back at him and shook his head. "Definitely not. I just wanted the second time to be special! Hah, but I can come over like a regular person from now on."

"Good. I'm glad." Arthur took a small breath, steadying himself before saying his next words. "I'd like to see you more often than simply when the winds deign to blow you in my direction." That sounded like it could be said between two friends, right?

Luckily, Alfred only nodded at the suggestion. "Definitely! You're a really cool guy, Artie, and I wanna hang out more with you while you've still got summer break." Then Matthew was urging him along, so with a final wave they drove off.

Arthur was left much happier this time.

* * *

The sight of Alfred's balloon was truly a sight to behold, and it was one that had graced Arthur's skies many times over the past two months. It was the week before school was due to start, and probably one of the last times Arthur would see it that year. He was looking out the window for it, and when he saw the red, white, and blue envelope a smile spread over his lips and he immediately moved outside.

Alfred, meanwhile, had learned to expertly land the balloon in Arthur's backyard, so no more roses had been harmed during his airborne visits. As he touched down, he saw Arthur waiting for him on the deck and waved. He and Arthur had become very good friends over the months of that summer, and now Alfred was absolutely certain he wanted more. The thought made him nervous, a possible rejection the cause of many a sleepless night, but he knew that if he didn't take the chance he definitely wouldn't have a shot at happiness. And he knew Arthur lay at the center of a great deal of his happiness lately.

"Hey, Artie!"

"Hello, Alfred. You're here a bit earlier than expected."

"The winds were stronger than I thought they'd be." Alfred bit his lip. "That's not a problem, is it?"

Arthur gave a light laugh. "No, of course it isn't. I didn't have any plans, so you've only freed me from more boredom."

"Aha! So you finally do admit that I'm your hero in some way!" Alfred fistpumped and vaulted over the edge of the basket to give Arthur a hug.

The Brit rolled his eyes, but he didn't push Alfred away. "I'm afraid not, Alfred. I still say you're too old for that talk."

Alfred snorted as he let go. "You're never too old to be someone's hero."

"So _you_ say. Now come on, shall we go inside?"

"Actually..." Alfred stayed by the balloon, and when Arthur tried to go back into the house, he reached out to grab his wrist. He looked hesitant and almost vulnerable.

Arthur immediately paused and looked back. He took in Alfred's face, and his own softened. "Alfred? What is it?" Moving closer, he placed a hand on Alfred's forehead to try and gauge whether or not he was sick. "Are you feeling all right?"

"I'm okay." Arthur was given a shaky smile. "I just thought we could go up in it today..."

"Go up...?" Arthur's mouth dried up, and he had to swallow a few times before he could speak properly. Alfred hadn't offered that before. He looked between his companion and the balloon, biting his lip, and nodded when he'd made up his mind. "Yes, Alfred. I'd love to go up with you."

Alfred's face relaxed and brightened up. "Really? I'm so glad!" He sent off a rapid text to Matthew. "We'll have to wait a bit for Mattie and some friends to come by so they can launch us, but oh God this is gonna be so awesome it has to be perfect..."

While Alfred kept on mumbling to himself and preparing all he could by himself, Arthur leaned against the deck railing and watched him with a smile. Matthew arrived about five minutes later with a truck full of guys. Soon Arthur had been introduced to Matthew's boyfriend, Gilbert, along with his good friends Ivan and Matthias. Alfred greeted them as well, and the five of them had the balloon inflated and ready for take-off within fifteen minutes. It was then that Alfred approached the Brit, a smile on his face.

"You ready to come fly with me?" He steadfastly ignored the sappiness of is words.

Arthur didn't, and he snorted. But he was grinning as well, and he nodded. "Yes. I can't say I've ever been up in a hot air balloon, though..."

"That's okay, Artie. I'm an ace pilot. You'll be completely safe with me." Smiling, Alfred took Arthur's hand and helped him up into the basket before climbing in himself. When he turned around, he was just in time to see the smirks on his friends' faces. Was that money being taken out? "Cut it out, guys," he whined.

"Cut out what?" Matthew asked. "We just wanted to wish you a good flight."

"Yeah, yeah. Just untether us so we can go. You ready to chase?"

All of them got more serious then. Matthew nodded. "Yeah. We'll be on your tail. Just radio me when you're going to start your descent."

Alfred gave him a nod in return, and then turned to Arthur. "Ready?"

Arthur couldn't help a giddy feeling from blooming in his chest. "Yes." He had no idea what to expect from this, but he felt that it would be something good.

With a slight jerk, they were rising. At first Arthur gripped onto the side of the wicker basket with white knuckles, but once they were a good thirty feet above the ground and steady he relaxed. The view only got better the higher they went. Alfred was in one of the corners and measuring the winds as they ascended, so Arthur moved over to the edge of it to look down. At first he was nervous that the basket would tip over too much, but Alfred just smiled and nodded for him to see over the edge.

He gasped when he saw his garden. He knew how big it was, could go over every inch of it in his mind, but to see it from the air like that was a completely different experience. The flowers he so carefully tended to were colorful splashes against the green, and he couldn't help starting to make plans for different designs. A shutter click sounded out to his left, and his eyes widened as he turned to see what it was.

Alfred looked up from his camera and grinned. "No harm in taking some pictures. Want me to capture anything specific for you?"

"The garden. If you could."

"No problem, Artie." The camera clicked away and then Alfred gave him a thumbs up.

Silence fell over them while they rose and drifted over Arthur's house. Arthur watched the landscape morph as they ascended, and Alfred watched Arthur whenever he could manage it. The Brit's eyes were wide, and he kept swiveling around every few minutes to look in all the different directions. The breeze ruffled his hair, making it even messier than it was before.

"Alfred, this is incredible..." he whispered, turning to look around at the other man. "I can see why you love it so much."

Alfred ducked his head bashfully, but there was a bright smile on his face. "I'm glad you like it up here. I'd like to take you up here more often next year. If you'd want to, that is." As he spoke, he was trying to figure out a way to bring up his other desire.

"That would..." Arthur smiled more as he leaned against the side of the basket. "I could get used to loving it up here as much as you do."

"And I could get used to loving you," Alfred's brain helpfully supplied, and it was another few seconds before the aeronaut realized that yes, he'd said that out loud.

Shock darted across Arthur's face, and he gripped onto the basket tightly. Did Alfred just say that? "P-Pardon me?"

Shit- There went all of his planning. Alfred's heart hammered to his chest, and he knew he was mirroring Arthur's deer-in-the-headlights look. He could hear roaring in his ears- Was that his blood? The air seemed much thinner, even though they weren't that high up. "A-Arthur I-" He forced himself to swallow. There was no way to go but forwards.

"Alfred?" Arthur took a cautious step towards him.

"I like you, Arthur. I like you a lot." Alfred just talked. He let all of the emotions flow out of him. "I liked you I think since our first meeting. I thought you were really cute when you were all flustered like that and God when you were mad that second time I thought that I would have no chance at all but then you were happy and still wanted to be my friend." His eyes were firmly trained on Arthur's chest. There was no way he would have been able to look into Arthur's eyes and face him in that moment. "And I wanted to tell you sooner but Mattie told me to take it easy and try and become good friends with you first, you know, to find out whether we had a lot in common and try to see if we would work good together. And I really think we do. You're really cute and so funny and gosh the gardens you can design are awesome. I've snooped around on your blog and some of your ideas are just amazing and your _house_ it just like draws me in or something, I feel right at home."

"Alfred-"

"No, Arthur. Please let me finish or I'll lose everything in my head, all that I want to say will be gone." He waited a moment. Silence. "Okay, so yeah your house but then there's you too and you're perfect and everything that I could have imagined for myself and more. I've seen you and been around you for small snapshots of your life but I want more. I want to know more about you, Artie, more about your habits and your quirks and all your emotions." Alfred didn't think he'd ever said this much at once, outside of high school presentations. "I wanna go to bed with you and wake up with you, see you with hair ruffled from sleep, eyes puffy and red from crying, happy tears, angry tears, everything, I can take it, I just want more-"

Slowly, while Alfred had been talking, Arthur moved closer and closer until there was a mere two inches separating them. His eyes were wet. One of his hands lifted up and cupped Alfred's cheek. The motion shut the American up, and finally, finally, those bright blue eyes met his own. "Alfred. That was- Well, I frankly don't think anyone's ever said quite a speech to me, and especially not about me."

When he spoke this time, Alfred's voice was quiet. "There was more to it..."

"I'm sure there was." Arthur couldn't help a laugh from escaping his mouth. He tiptoed closer. "And I'm equally as sure that I'll have all the time in the world to hear the rest of it. I... I felt something for you too, Alfred. I certainly wouldn't have made my move so soon, I'm not as brave in that aspect as you are, but I think we would work well together."

"You-" It was time for Alfred's eyes to fill with tears. His hands moved up to grip at Arthur's shoulders and hold him tightly in place. "You're giving me a chance? Giving us a chance?"

"I am." Arthur leaned in, a smile on his face. Alfred's eyes widened and he surged forwards to crash their lips together. The movement caught Arthur off guard, but he soon melted into the kiss. Fierce pleasure ripped through him, and his hand wound around the small of Alfred's back to pull him flush against the aeronaut's toned body. The balloon kept smoothly drifting upwards and across the landscape, but neither man was paying the outer scenery any attention.

* * *

Back on the ground, Matthew pulled the binoculars away from his face and grinned at his companions. "They're kissing. Hand it over, boys."

"What?" Matthias quickly snatched the binoculars from him and looked through them himself. "Damn it, he's right. I think they're sucking each other's faces off..."

Gilbert was next for a look. "Really? Shit, they are. Whoa, they even tipped the basket!" He took another step forward. "Wait, they're breaking apart now. God they both look so sappy, it's disgusting."

"I would like to remind you that many times you and Matthew are the same," Ivan broke in politely, taking the instrument away from the albino and stowing it in its case. "So don't you start about sappiness."

"I'm still not seeing any money in my hand," Matthew reminded them. A round of grumbling was heard from the other three, and as they packed up their equipment to start the chase, Matthew found himself sixty dollars richer.

* * *

 **A/N** : A few years later, Alfred proposes to Arthur similarly in the balloon.

The idea came with me in physics class over a year ago. We learned about the champagne tradition because of this problem we were doing, and I really wanted to write a story about it.


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